Poultry News

Pilgrim's Pride Witnesses Growth in Profits

US - Pilgrim's Pride has reported net sales of $2.05 billion for the thirteen week period of the fourth quarter of 2013, as compared to $2.2 billion for the 14-week period in 2012.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") of $196.5 million increased by 205 per cent compared to the $64.4 million generated in the previous year.

Net income of $143.4 million reflected an improvement of 529 per cent compared to the $22.8 million reported in the same period in 2012, with diluted earnings per share reaching $0.55 compared to $0.09 in the fourth quarter of 2012.

For the full 2013 financial year, Pilgrim's achieved $8.4 billion in net sales and $800.4 million of EBITDA, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 9.5 per cent.

Pilgrim's recognised $549.6 million in net income for the full year with net income of $2.12 per weighted average share, demonstrating consistently solid performance over the entire year.

"Three years ago our company began executing a strategy to create shareholder value and improve capital structure by partnering with key customers, relentless pursuit of operational excellence and growing our value added exports. During this period, we grew our sales by 22 per cent while increasing our profitability, clearly demonstrating that this strategy is working as evidenced by this year's strong free cash flow generation," said Bill Lovette, Pilgrim's Chief Executive Officer.

"Our team fully understands that our company is going through a 'Revolution of Rising Expectations' and we continue to drive accountability deeper, setting targets to achieve the highest standards for every aspect of our business. We continually emphasise that being better than average is not good enough as we strive to be the best managed and most respected company in our industry.

“Cash flows from operations for our fourth quarter were $281.8 million reaching $878.5 million for the year, adding strength to our balance sheet and providing Pilgrim's with a competitive start to 2014.

“Our ending net debt position was $307.1 million, which is 0.4 times our trailing twelve months' EBITDA of $800.4 million. This robust capital structure will provide us with the financial strength essential to pursuing the next stages of our growth strategy."